Manure spreaders are commonly used to transport and spread materials such as compost, straw, seed, crop residue, and especially manure. Commercially available manure spreaders typically employ a container for holding the manure to be spread, means for moving the manure in the container towards and into a discharge mechanism, and a discharge mechanism to expel or spread the manure. Moving manure through the container and into the discharge mechanism may be accomplished through the use of hydraulic push-gates, conveyors, augers, and the like. Examples of discharge mechanisms include rotating augers mounted horizontally or vertically, rotating discs, or combinations of the two. These discharge mechanisms may be located on the side or the rear of the manure spreader.
Manure spreaders that include one or more rotating augers, or beaters, mounted in a substantially vertical orientation with respect to the ground, hold many advantages over other types of manure spreaders. These advantages include the ability to spread a wide variety of manure compositions, a wide distribution, or spread, pattern, and ease in serviceability. However, spreaders that use such vertical beaters also hold many disadvantages with respect to safety and spread pattern.
Rotating vertical beaters are designed to expel manure away from the manure spreader in a controlled fashion, distributing manure onto a surface in a predictable, consistent pattern. Unfortunately, commercially available spreaders that use traditional vertical beater designs often expel manure unpredictably, and sometimes dangerously, back toward the manure spreader, or worse yet, toward the vehicle pulling the spreader. In the case of liquids, or soft manures, the unpredictable distribution may only result in a mere inconvenience to the user of the spreader. However, when the manure is a solid, or if the manure contains debris such as rocks, the manure striking the spreader, towing vehicle, or operator may cause damage or injury. To counter this problem, many manure spreaders include shields or guards to prevent manure and other debris such as rocks, dirt, and so on, from reaching the towing vehicle and operator.
Therefore, a need in the industry exists for a manure spreader with a discharge system that offers the advantages of vertical beaters, but with an improved, consistent spread pattern that limits the dangers of flying debris.